Softball goes to regionals
The Lady Miner softball team earned its first-ever berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament this spring, playing in the Great Lakes Regional at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill. Watch for information on the Lady Miners’ tournament run in the Fall issue of UMR Magazine.Indoor track and field
The Miners indoor track and field team posted its highest finish ever at the NCAA. UMR participants Lucas Handley, Jordan Henry and Tyrone Smith earned All-America honors.

UMR psychology student Brandon Landry knows a lot about success. As a varsity football and basketball player, Landry broke every school record at Salesian High School in Fairfield, Calif., and was known as one of the top athletes in Northern California.

Two UMR researchers will receive an estimated $400,000 apiece during the next five years as part of the National Science Foundation’s CAREER program, which supports promising scientists early in their careers. The program recognizes and supports the early career development of teacher-scholars who are most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century.

Smart ships with power systems that can think and repair themselves sound like something out of a futuristic science-fiction novel. But Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy is working to make them a reality for the U.S. Navy.

America’s war on drugs examined in 19th century
Today’s war on drugs is not the first battle America has fought against addiction. In her new book, The Opium Debate and Chinese Exclusion Laws, UMR historian Diana Ahmad examines the opium-smoking epidemic of the mid-19th century and finds that Chinese immigrants weren’t the problem, as is commonly believed.

As the Order of the Golden Shillelagh celebrates its 30th anniversary, it’s tempting to relive the past and reminisce about how individuals “picked up the shillelagh” to provide financial support for the university. After all, that group of concerned individuals, like a grain of sand to an oyster, supplied the foundation for what became a lustrous organization.